Question regarding DAZ Install manager

RKane_1

Okay, I loathe with every fiber of my being the DAZ Connect method of loading content. It's clunky and I have all the available space I need on my computer. I don't want it on my computer. I want all the little items like this... 

I want it to install the old fashioned way but the only way I can think to do this is to go to Products -> Choose a letter -> find the file, then delete it individually which is a time consuming concept as I have several thousands of these files and you cannot delete them from your Content Library several at a time, just one at a time. Or is there? I want to start fresh and just use the old method, NOT DAZ Connect, which, as I have mentioned, I loathe. 

Does someone know of a way to expediet the elimination of these type of files so that I can load them fresh with DAZ Install manager or does it HAVE TO BE eliminated one at a time?

NorthOf45

Okay, that type of icon is there because you log in, or have logged in, to DAZ from Studio. Connect is saying that it is available to install, because it knows you own it and have not installed it. Yes, it is a royal pain to remove products from the Product list in the Content Library, but you don't actually have to remove it, although Richard Haseltine will likely point out some script that does exactly that, I imagine.

You can just use DIM to install the "old-fashioned way" without any special action on your part, and that b&w icon will turn into a coloured icon like all other DIM-installed content (try one and see). The Connect flash will probably stay, but you can ignore it. I do not know of any way to clear Connect-related data (don't use it myself). Maybe clearing the database (export your USER DATA first to save any customization you have done) and re-importing the metadata (OFFLINE) will do that, but I have a hard time recommending the nuclear option. Someone...? 

To avoid dealing any further with Connect, change your preferences (F2) to uncheck Startup -> Automatically Login with Remembered Credentials. Those credentials are accessible from the menu -> Connect -> Login. Clear all fields and uncheck all boxes, and Studio cannot login to give Connect any access.

RKane_1

When I try to load something using DIM, if there is already that icon there, it tells me it is installed but then I see that icon when I go look in Products. The only way I know how to get rid of it, is to delete that icon, iuninstall in DIM and delete the install, then reinstall making sure DAZ Studio is not open.

Does anyone know an easier/quicker way?

SofaCitizen

I think the quickest way is indeed to reset your database as that will purge all the data for the Connect-installed products. However, make sure you export your UserData first if you want to re-import that one file into your cleaned database.  Also, make sure you logout of Daz inside studio and stay logged out else Connect will just mess things up again later.

You will still have to locate the folder where connect installed things and manually remove the folders.

After that you should be good to fire up DIM and re-install the products - or install them manually if you prefer.

RKane_1

SofaCitizen said:

I think the quickest way is indeed to reset your database as that will purge all the data for the Connect-installed products. However, make sure you export your UserData first if you want to re-import that one file into your cleaned database.  Also, make sure you logout of Daz inside studio and stay logged out else Connect will just mess things up again later.

You will still have to locate the folder where connect installed things and manually remove the folders.

After that you should be good to fire up DIM and re-install the products - or install them manually if you prefer.

 

Don't suppose you can walk me through that?

SofaCitizen

RKane_1 said:

Don't suppose you can walk me through that?

I can try, but it's been a while since I have done this myself so may miss a few things.  Also, I am going to assume you have not done anything "advanced" in relation to the CMS/database as this process will remove things like custom Stores if you have added any yourself manually or via a plugin/script.

 

1. First thing is to log out within Daz Studio
2. Then go to Edit/Preferences/Startup and uncheck "Show Login Page" & "Automatically Login With Remembered Credentials"
3. While you have the Preferences window open, Click on the Content tab and then the "Content Directory Manager" button
4. In the "Content Directory Manager", expand the section for "Daz Connect Data" and note down the folder path that is listed there - that is where the files installed via Daz Connect should live.
5. Cancel the "Content Directory Manager" window (since we did not make changes anyway) but then click "Accept" on the Preferences window to make sure you save those settings
6. On the Smart Content tab, click the "Hamburger Icon" in the top right and select "Content DB Maintenance"
7. In the window that pops up, check only the bottom two: "Export User Data" and "Reset Database" - note this will wipe ALL info from the CMS and so "Smart Content" will be empty after this happens, as with the "Products" and "Categories" sections of the Content Library but will not remove any files. This is what you want to do here but it's worth re-emphasising what this does incase this may affect something that you may have which has not been mentioned in the thread.
8. Once this is done, close Daz Studio and navigate to the "Daz Connect Data" folder from bullet 4 in Windows Explorer or Mac Finder (whichever is appropriate for your OS)
9. At this point I have to be a bit vague about exactly what will be in here as I have already cleared out my own folder. However, there is likely to be product assets and some thumbnails. If you are happy to nuke your Daz Connect  data then you can delete everything inside this folder. You won't be able to remove the folder itself since Daz Studio has to have a Connect folder (even if you don't use it) and I think it will recreate the data/cloud folder but other than that it can be empty.  I guess if you don't like this folder existing here you can probably edit the folder in the "Content Directory Manager" to point to a temporary/dumping location after clearing the folders down and ten after doing that you can probably remove the Daz Connect parent folder.
10. At this point, unless I am misremembering, it should be safe to re-import the metadata for your products that were previously installed via DIM. This process will basically read all the DSX files saved in the Runtime/Support folder in each linked Base Folder and put the relevant records back into the CMS. This should be free of any interferance by Daz Connect.
11. Fire up Daz Studio again and double-check that it did not log you in again - this should not happen if you saved the Preferences earlier.
12. In the Smart Content, click the hamburger icon and select "Content DB Maintenance" again.
13. This time you will check "Process Metadata Queue" & "Re-Import Metadata" and click Accept
14. This will scan the DSX files and give you a list of all your products it can find. In theroy you want to leave all these checked (which is the default). The first first one is UserData which is the data exported during the purge and contains any manual changes you have made to categories. This is up to you if you want to re-import these or not depending on if you have made any changes. It is safe to uncheck it if you want as you can always re-do this step and check ONLY the UserData to import this info at a later stage.
15. Once you have clicked to proceed with this stage Daz will work on re-importing this data - note: this will take a little while depending on how many products you have installed and your hardware etc. As a benchmark last time I did this it took around 12-15 minutes I think so you can get up and have a break while this happens.
16. When this eventually finishes you SHOULD have a clean setup of products - it is probably worth firing up DIM to check that all your products are fully installed as you may have a few items that were only installed via Connect and so DIM should spot these and offer them for installation.

 

Note, after doing this, you may find that some products are missing thumbnails that were not missing before. This is because a few products are distributed without them and Daz Connect handles thumbnails differently. These can be manually created easily enough if you need to.

Hopefully, that all makes sense.

Richard Haseltine

RKane_1 said:

When I try to load something using DIM, if there is already that icon there, it tells me it is installed but then I see that icon when I go look in Products. The only way I know how to get rid of it, is to delete that icon, iuninstall in DIM and delete the install, then reinstall making sure DAZ Studio is not open.

Does anyone know an easier/quicker way?

I don't follow that.